The Battle of Hjörungavágr (Norwegian: ''Slaget ved Hjørungavåg'') is a semi-legendary naval battle that took place in the late 10th century between the Jarls of Lade and a Danish invasion fleet led by the fabled

Jomsvikings The Jomsvikings were purportedly a legendary order of Viking mercenaries or conquerors of the 10th and 11th centuries. Though reputed to be staunchly dedicated to the worship of the Old Norse gods, they would allegedly fight for any lord who ...

. This battle played an important role in the struggle by

Haakon Sigurdsson Haakon Sigurdsson ( non, Hákon Sigurðarson , no, Håkon Sigurdsson; 937–995), known as Haakon Jarl (Old Norse: ''Hákon jarl''), was the ''de facto'' ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995. Sometimes he is styled as Haakon the Powerful ( n ...

(c. 937 – 995) to unite his rule over Norway. Traditionally, the battle has been set during the year 986, though the ''Gesta Wulinensis ecclesiae pontificum'' has the year 984 as the year of the battle.

History

During this period, Denmark was the dominant power in the Nordic region. Southern Norway and the Oslo Fjord sometimes lay directly under Danish rule. Haakon Sigurdsson ruled

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

as a vassal of King

Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ( non, Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; da, Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. ...

of Denmark (died c. 985/86), but for the most part seemed to remain an independent ruler. Haakon was a strong believer in the old

Norse gods Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nors ...

. When Harald Bluetooth attempted to force

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

upon him around 975, Haakon broke his allegiance to Denmark. Harald Bluetooth had suffered defeat from Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor during 974. Haakon took advantage of the weakened position of the Danish king to make Norway independent of Denmark. With the convincing victory, Haakon Sigurdsson remained Norway's sole ruler and Denmark's claim over Norway was rejected and not repeated again until the

Battle of Svolder The Battle of Svolder (''Svold'' or ''Swold'') was a large naval battle during the Viking age, fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between Olaf Tryggvason, King Olaf of Norway and an alliance of the Kings of Denmark and Swe ...

about fourteen years later. Hjoernungavaag

Olav Trygvasons saga - Uvaeret, Hjoerungavaag - G

Location

Jómsvíkinga saga The ''Jómsvíkinga saga'' ("''Saga of the Jomsvikings''") is a medieval Icelandic saga composed by an anonymous author. The saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other. There ...

'' offers two mutually contradictory descriptions of the bay on the coast of Sunnmøre in which the battle took place. According to the first one, Hjorungavágr lies on the landward side of the island Hoð (now Hareidlandet in Møre og Romsdal). According to the other, the bay is situated south of an island called Primsigð/Primsignd and north of an island called Horund. Both of these names are not in common use today.

Sources

The battle is described in the Norse kings' sagas—including ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

''—as well as in ''

'' and

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

' ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

''. Saxo Grammaticus estimated that the battle took place while

was still alive. Some scholarly traditions have set the battle in 986 whereas the ''Gesta Wulinensis ecclesiae pontificum'' has 984 as the year of the battle. Some contemporary

skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...

alludes to the battle, including verses by

Þórðr Kolbeinsson Þórðr Kolbeinsson (''Thordr Kolbeinsson'') was an 11th-century Icelandic skald, or poet. He was the court poet of Eiríkr Hákonarson and some 17 stanzas of his poetry on the earl are preserved in the kings' sagas. The following example is from ...

and

Tindr Hallkelsson Tindr Hallkelsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic skald active around the year 1000. He was the court poet of earl Hákon Sigurðarson and fragments of his ''drápa'' on the earl are preserved in ''Jómsvíkinga saga'', the kin ...

. The battle was also the subject of later poems and sagas. '' Jómsvíkingadrápa'' by Bjarni Kolbeinsson honors the fallen Jomsvikings at the Battle of Hjörungavágr. '' Vellekla'', composed by the Icelandic skald Einarr Helgason, speaks of the Battle of Hjörungavágr. ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian ...

'', contains a history of Norway with a heavy emphasis on battles, including the Battle of Hjörungavágr.

References

External links

Historic play at Hjørungavåg

Hjørungavåg National Monument
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Hjorungavagr Hjorungavagr Hjorungavagr Hjorungavagr Jomsvikings 980s conflicts 986 10th century in Norway Sunnmøre

History

Location

Sources

See also

References

Related reading

External links